Me & my: Kolbus DA 270

Generally making the choice to swap out an previouslittle bit ofequipment for a brand new one is usually atoughname. New toolsmight becostlyand may take some time to mattress in. You mayexpertise downtime and it’ll take employeessome time to rise upto hurry on the tools.

You’ve additionallyacquired the added problem of filling the brand new machine. These are all elements that Kevin Lee, manufacturing director at Stockport-based printer and print finisher Deanprint, took into consideration when the corporatedetermined to improve a casemaker.

Lee says the prevailing machine, a Kolbus DA 260, which had been purchased secondhand round eight years in the past, had been a loyal servant. Nevertheless, the corporatewanteda more moderen piece of equipment that providedextra automation and higher efficiencies.

“On our previous casemakers for our three-part instances for hardback ebookmanufacturing, we have beenreducing out the entrance piece of board, the backbone and the again piece of board,” he explains. “So that you had a guillotine operator who was completely supplying that machine. We additionally had slight variation. If you’re reducing spines you wouldsolelyminimize on the guillotine eight or 10 at a time otherwise you’d begin to get barely angled mitre edges, so you’ll have extra jams and extra stops [on the casemaker] due to the inaccuracy of the substrate you have beenplacing in it.”

It was clear that what Deanprint wanted was the most recenttechnology of casemaker. Step ahead the Kolbus DA 270, which the corporateput in in January this 12 months after a briefchoicecourse of.

“Once wepurchased our present [Kolbus] machine I regardedacross the market on thetotally differentchoices, howeverthere wasno person new come to {the marketplace} lately so I used to bemainlytryingon thesimilarchoices. Having already performed that analysis this time round we knew what we wished.”

Lee went out to Germany to have a look at the machine and he additionallychecked out some used choices, howeverin the long run he determined to plump for a model new one and traded within theprevious DA 260. What he notablyfavoredin regards to the DA 270 was its familiarity.

“The precise carcass of the machine and all theactionsconcernedwithin the machine are preciselythe identicalbecause the DA 260. The software program is acquainted to our operators as effectively so it was a reallyacquainted machine and we have been two-thirds of the way in which there by way ofcoaching from a standing begin, which from a manufacturingstandpoint is at all timeshelpful.”

Set up ran easily with the previous machine shipped out in round a day and a half and the brand new one put in over 4 days with a few days coaching for the operators.

“We didn’t have a lot downtime in any respect,” says Lee. “Additionallywe’ve gota few CMC LPA [casemakers] that we might make instances on by hand on in order thatprovidedagain up if it have beenvital. Fortunately we’ve acquired redundancy for almostevery thing – we’ve acquired 110 items of equipment.”

Throughput increase

The DA 270 is the most recent addition to this armoury and it one of many investments that Lee is most happy about because of the elevatedproductiveness it gives. On the DA 260 the corporatemight produce round 35 instances a minute, however on the brand newmannequin this has virtually doubled to 65 cycles/min on instancesas much as 670x390mm in dimension, fabricas much as 708x428mm and boards as much as 328mm broad, 390mm excessive and 4mm thick.

A lot of this bump in velocity is as a result of DA 270’s inline board cutter, which implies guillotining is now notvital. “It takes a single piece of board and cuts it into the three items of board for a 3half case or two items of board if it’s going to take a two half press certain case. So it adjustments our world,” says Lee.

The machine can beable to producing wire-bound covers. This versatility has been a boon for the enterprise.

“For the primary time I’ve truly been in a position to catch up,” says Lee. “BeforehandI used to beat all times chasing myself, however we might beforward of the sport now and we’ve got the capability to tackledifferentpurchasers.”

In addition to being simplerto make use of than the previous machine the standardof labor it produces can behigher, which impliesthere may bemuch less downtime. “The inline board cutter is persistentlyreducingpreciselyso that you don’t get the problems that you would have if you happen to’re making instances by hand or by a much less automated machine, as a result of tolerances are so tight and good on the brand new one. Consequently, you possibly canmanagement it extraand also you don’t have crooked spines or boards which can bebarely twisted or have dishevelled corners that may all provide you withissuesadditional down the road in ebookmanufacturing.”

The board cutter additionallymechanically feeds the board into the machine, in contrast to on the DA 260, the place it needed to be fed in by hand. Different efficiencies provided by the DA 270 embody pre-melting of the glue so it’s at all times feeding forward of the machine needing it. “On the 260 we have beenfastsufficient that we’dusually outpace the glue tank,” says Lee. “Now we don’t mustceaseto attend for the glue.”

And the duvet feeder feeds from the underside so you possibly can add extra covers whereas the machine is working. “The previous machine used to take covers from the highest of the stack so that youneeded tobodilycease the machine so as to addextra covers,” says Lee.

Though the machine is now absolutely bedded in he admits that there have beena number of teething issues. “Kolbus has responded effectively to any of our calls,” says Lee. “If in case you have any model new machine there are going to be a number ofpoints, it’s par for the course.”

Any minor points have been greater than offset by the velocity the DA 270 givesthe corporate. “The standard is just like the 260, howeverwe are able toobtain it at twice the velocity,” says Lee. “It provides us the power to handlethe remainder ofmanufacturingextraeffectively as effectivelyas a result ofwe are able toprovide the covers and the instances for issues in good time forward of differentparts of manufacturing. Beforehandwe’dgenerally have just a littlelittle bit of a backlog of labor, which by no meansbasically affected lastsupply to clients, however itmay give you pointsthroughout themanufacturing cycle by way ofyou would have performed it extraeffectivelyif you happen tomighthave gottentheseinstances off earlier. Now we’ve gotthe aptitudeto try this.”

Though Lee loves the brand new DA 270 he admits that in an excellent world he would have stored the Kolbus DA 260 as effectively. “However that’s a manufacturing utopia and you may’t have every thing,” he says. With the most recent addition to the corporate’s spectacular array of kit it feels likethe corporate is fairlynear paradise already.

COMPANY PROFILE

Deanprint was established in 1890 and operates in three key markets: authorities contracts, academicuseful resourcemanufacturing and conventional print ending. Over the previous few years the corporate has invested within thenewest print expertise; final October it put in an MBO Okay80 B1 mixture folder, which adoptedshut on the heels of the set up of a Rilecart B-535 wire-binding machine. The corporate’s 4,650sqm base is residence to greater than 100 items of equipment, together with two Heidelberg Speedmaster presses that are used for the manufacturing of its personal book-related merchandise. Deanprint turns over slightly below £3m and employs 42 members of employees.

Why it was purchased…

The corporatewished to spend money on a extra automated casemaking machine to switch an ageing mannequin and enhanceproductivenessranges.

How has it carried out…

The standard of the work it produces is “very good” in accordance with Lee, who says the onesmartest thingin regards to the machine is its velocity coupled with the powerto chop the boards inline.” The accuracy of the cutters additionally makes for “fewer stops and extraenvironment friendly runs”.